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A glossary of turkey terms

Once upon a time, buying your Thanksgiving turkey was easy. You went to your neighborhood grocery and picked up the one they were selling (or, if you’re like my dad, giving away with a $25 purchase). No more. Today, a high-end grocery may sell as many as a half-dozen types of turkey, and telling one from another takes a bit of homework.

What’s the difference between frozen and fresh? It’s not as obvious as you think. And then you’ve got organic, free-range, pastured and heritage birds.

Here’s a handy guide to some of the definitions you ought to get familiar with.

Free-range

Fresh

Frozen

Hard- or deep-chilled

Hen

Heritage

Kosher

Natural

Organic

Pastured

Self-basting

Tom

Free-range

This is a legal definition that requires that the birds be raised having access to the outdoors. There’s a bit of wiggle room. They don’t necessarily need to have access to pasture or grass, just the outdoors, which can mean dirt or gravel.

Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

Fresh

Legally, it means that a turkey has not been chilled below 26 degrees. Practically speaking, though, a 26-degree turkey is still about as soft as a bowling ball.

Alan Markfield / Turner Broadcasting System

Frozen

This means that the turkey has been chilled to 0 degrees. It should be noted that this doesn’t necessarily mean an inferior bird. Properly frozen, stored and defrosted, it can be excellent.

Amy Sancetta / Associated Press

Hard- or deep-chilled

An intermediate step that means the turkey has been chilled to between 0 and 26 degrees.

Frantzesco Kangaris / Bloomberg

Hen

This is a female bird, and they usually come in at less than 16 pounds.

Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

Heritage

This is probably the hottest category among food lovers, but it is not legally regulated. Basically, it means anything but the standard turkey breed, which is the Broad-Breasted White. Heritage birds tend to be leaner with less meat, which means they won’t feed as many people and will dry out if not cooked carefully. They also have a gamier flavor, which is appreciated by some but not everyone.

Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times

Kosher

Turkeys that have been slaughtered and cleaned in accordance with kosher law. Notice that while they have been briefly salted to draw out any remaining blood, this is not the same as brining. There is lots of confusion about this, but koshering requires salting for only one hour before rinsing, which is not at all the same as brining for several days.

Natural

Basically no added ingredients and only minimal processing — no injecting flavors or brining.

Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

Organic

Turkeys that have been raised without hormones and steroids and have been processed without preservatives. In addition they have been fed only organic feed and have ready access to the outdoors.

USDA

Pastured

This is a new, non-regulated definition that is kind of like free-range-plus, as the birds have had access to grass.

Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

Self-basting

These are the familiar supermarket turkeys that have been injected with flavor solution or brine to keep them from drying out.

Matthew Mead / Associated Press

Tom

This is a male turkey, which usually means it weighs more than 18 pounds.